“The Chicago Blackhawks are privileged to be included in the National Hockey League's Stadium Series,” Blackhawks President and CEO John McDonough said in a statement. “Hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins at iconic Soldier Field promises to be a unique experience for our organization and our fans.”

The Blackhawks first hosted a regular-season outdoor game on New Year's Day in 2009 against the Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field in the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.

Strong attendance at that game (about 40,000 fans) combined with high television ratings of previous outdoor NHL games made the Soldier Field game and the outdoor playing series an attractive option for the league.

"Our fans and our teams love outdoor games and we are thrilled the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series will present a number of these experiences to a large number of our fans in a variety of National Hockey League markets,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in the statement.

TITLE SPONSORSHIP FOR MILLERCOORS

The new series also marks a significant title sponsorship deal for MillerCoors, which has focused on defending sports sponsorships on its Chicago "home turf," as I discussed recently with Andy England, the company's chief marketing officer.

MillerCoors has official beer deals with the Chicago Bears, White Sox, Fire and the Chicagoland Speedway, while Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V. is paired with the Cubs, Bulls and Blackhawks.

This past February, college hockey debuted at Soldier Field in the inaugural OfficeMax Hockey City Classic, which featured two games involving some of the nation's top hockey programs.

That event was staged Chicago-based sports marketing firm Intersport in conjunction with the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Sports Commission.